Written question asked by Jim Cunningham (Labour) on Friday, 3 October 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 7 October 2008. It was answered by Douglas Alexander (Labour) on Monday, 13 October 2008 on behalf of the Department for International Development.

Iraq: Employment

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent support the Government has given to the development of employment opportunities in Iraq.

Answer: We believe that the best way to develop employment opportunities in Iraq is to support the Iraqis to stimulate economic growth through the private sector. To achieve this, the UK is supporting two institutions—the Basra Development Commission (BDC) and Basra Investment Commission (BIC). The Department for International Development (DFID) is also looking at ways to improve the availability of credit to small and medium sized enterprises.Co-chaired by Michael Wareing, the CEO of KPMG International, the BDC is bringing international and regional private sector expertise to Southern Iraq, and working on a range of economic projects. Most recently, the BDC launched a youth employment scheme (YES) which aims to provide an initial 500 vocational training placements for unemployed youths to work with local businesses, after which the businesses will offer them permanent employment. This scheme is modelled on best practice adopted by Business in the Community in the UK.The BDC is also working with the Iraqi National Investment Commission (NIC) to facilitate visits to Iraq for the investors interested in commercial opportunities—11 such visits have now taken place. These investors are looking at taking forward projects with a potential value in excess of $4 billion and employing 1,200 to 1,500 people in the first year alone.

Secondary information